Saul Sanchez Portfolio
Saul Sanchez (b. Bogota,Colombia, 1977) has had solo exhibitions at Peana Projects, Monterrey, Nueveochenta Arte Contemporaneo Gallery, Bogota; Espacio ANEXO, Espacio Mínimo Gallery, Madrid; and Arroniz Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City; as well as several group exhibitions at venues including Action Field Kodra, Municipality of Kalamaria, Thessaloniki; Aurora 2015, DMA Dallas Museum of Art; Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango, Bogota; Alliance Française, Bogota; Provincial Arts Center, Havana; Santral, Istanbul; and Diego Rivera House Museum, Guanajuato. Sanchez holds an MFA from Parsons the New School of Design, New York (2016) and a BFA from Universidad Distrital Francisco Jose de Caldas, Bogota (2005). Sanchez’s work questions different ideas related to the conceptual values of painting and the process conditions, proper of the different ways of representing images. Color interpretation, the boundaries between the visible and the invisible, and the relationship between the traditional forms and the contemporary practices of pictorial environment, are some of the main topics that structure his work. Through installation projects, paintings and drawings, Saul explores the relationships those art forms have with their context (commercial, institutional and educational).
Saul Sanchez Lives and works in Montréal Education 2016
MFA in Fine Arts, Parsons The New School, New York, USA
2005
BFA. Academia Superior de Artes de Bogotá ASAB. Bogota, Colombia
Solo Shows 2021 ‘In-between’ El Museo Gallery, Bogota, Colombia 2018 ‘Painting and Invention’ Peana Projects, Monterrey, Mexico ‘You want accuracy, but not representation’ Aldo Chaparro Studio, Mexico City, Mexico 2017 ‘Un hombre no puede mover una roca con sus propias manos’ Nueveochenta Arte Contemporaneo, Bogota, Colombia 2016 ‘One after another” Praxis International, New York, USA 2015 ‘One after another in succession’ Nueveochenta Arte Contemporaneo, Bogota, Colombia 2013 ‘No se dice nunca lo mismo’ Nueveochenta Arte Contemporaneo, Bogota, Colombia
2011 ‘Pato o Conejo’ Solo Project, Arte Santander 2011, Santander, Spain Pato o Conejo’ Espacio ANEXO, Espacio Mínimo Gallery, Madrid, Spain ‘Pato o Conejo’ NueveochentaArte Contemporaneo, Bogota, Colombia 2010 ‘Regla de Tres’ Arróniz Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City, Mexico 2009 ‘Regla de Tres’ NueveochentaArte Contemporaneo, Bogota, Colombia 2008 ‘YOU ARE HERE’ Centro Colombo Americano de Bogota, Colombia ‘YOU ARE HERE, VOUS-ÊTES ICI, USTED ESTA AQUÍ’ Alianza Francesa de
Bogota, Colombia
‘YOU ARE HERE’ Museo de Arte Moderno de Pereira, Colombia 2007 ‘YOU ARE HERE’ Nueveochenta Arte Contemporaneo, Bogota, Colombia 2006 ‘Expansion y Contraccion de un Espacio Vacio’ Young Artists Cycle, Alianza Francesa de Bogota, Colombia 2005 ‘I-Real’ Sala Alterna Galeria Santa Fe IDCT, Planetario de Bogota, Colombia ‘I-Real - Local in-nobiliaria’ Centro Cultural Universidad de Salamanca, Bogota, Colombia 2004 ‘Dislocaciones’ Centro Cultural Universidad de Salamanca, Bogota, Colombia ‘Una Noble Causa’ Galería El Garaje, Bogota, Colombia
Distinctions and Awards 2014-2016 Fulbright Scholarship. 2013
Honorary Mention. VI Bi-dimensional Art Salon. Gilberto Alzate Avendano Foundation, Bogota, Colombia
2006
Young Artists Cycle Award, Alianza Francesa de Bogota, Colombia
2005
Honorary Mention. La Libertad Guiando al Pueblo. Embassy of France, Bogota, Colombia
Honorary Mention Concurso Nacional de Pintura BBVA, Bogota, Colombia 2004
Scholarships and Awards for the Arts 2004, Planetario de Bogota, Colombia
Selected Collections Sayago & Pardon Collection, San Diego, USA Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango - Museo de Arte del Banco de la República, Colombia Selected Group Shows 2019 ‘Pintura Inmortal’ El Museo Gallery, Bogota, Colombia ‘Preview’ Elvira Moreno Gallery, Bogota, Colombia 2018 ‘Blue Monday’ Aldo Chaparro Studio, Mexico City, Mexico 2017 ‘No Place’ Lima, Peru
2016 ‘Abstracion II’ Arroniz Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City, Mexico ‘I Can Because You Do’ Participant Inc, New York, USA. Curated by Alhena Katsof 2015 ‘Dialogos con La Coleccion, Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogota, Colombia ‘Aurora 2015: All Together Now’ DMA Dallas Museum of Art, USA. Curated by Tim Goossens ‘Action Field Kodra 2015 –ERROR’ Municipality of Kalamaria, Thessaloniki, Greece. Curated by Anthi Argyriou A False Horizon: Art from Latin America’ Peana Projects, New York, USA. Curated by Ana Perez Escoto 2014 ‘Textos Audibles, Visibles, y Legibles’ Santa Fe Gallery, Bogota, Colombia 2013 ‘Naturaleza Desmaterializada’ NC arte, Bogota, Colombia. Curated by Eduardo Serrano 2012 ‘Escapando con el Paisaje’ Collateral Exhibition to the 11th Havana Biennial, Provintial Arts Center, Havana, Cuba. Curated by Elvia Rosa Castro ‘Yo, Chango’ Border, Mexico City, Mexico ‘2 Premio Bienal de Artes Plasticas y Visuales’ Gilberto Alzate Avendaño Foundation, Bogota, Colombia ‘Espacios Quebrantados’ Arroniz Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City, Mexico 2011 ‘On the territory: Contemporary art in Colombia’ Santral and Istanbul, Turkey ‘On the territory: Contemporary art in Colombia,’CerModern, Ankara, Turkey ‘42 Salon Nacional de Artistas’ Cartagena, Colombia ‘Un Territorio en Puntos Suspensivos’ Diego Rivera House Museum, Guanajuato, Mexico
2010 ‘Lenguajes del Papel’ El Museo Gallery, Bogota, Colombia ‘Ultimas Adquisiciones de la Coleccion del Banco de la Republica’ Bogota, Colombia. ‘Dorado, Platform for Art Interventions’ International Art Foundation, Madrid, Spain 2009 ‘Preambulo, XIII Salon Nacional de Artistas - Central Region’ Tunja, Colombia 2008 ‘X’ Nueveochenta Arte Contemporaneo, Bogota, Colombia ‘Siguiente Por Favor’ Nueveochenta Arte Contemporaneo, Bogota, Colombia ‘Viajeros’ Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellin, Colombia 2007 ‘Bi-dimensional Art Salon’ Gilberto Alzate Avendaño Foundation, Bogota, Colombia ‘Pintura Fresca’ Arte Cámara. Camara de Coemrcio de,ç Bogota, Colombia ‘Fotografica Bogota, Desbordando la Objetividad’ Museo de Bogota, Planetario de Bogota, Colombia ‘Al Agua’ Nueveochenta Arte Contemporaneo, Colombia 2006 ‘Pintura Sea lo que Sea’ Cu4rto Nivel Foundation, Bogota, Colombia ‘Arte joven 2006’ Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogota, Colombia 2005 ‘Lugar- No lugar’ New Names Program, Luis Angel Arango Library, Banco de la Republica, Bogota, Colombia ‘II Bi-dimensional Art Salon’ Gilberto Alzate Avendaño Foundation, Bogota, Colombia ‘RELACIONAL’ Galería Santa Fe IDCT, Planetary, Bogota, Colombia ‘3 Propuestas Pictoricas’ El Museo Gallery, Bogota, Colombia ‘Practicas Artisticas de lo Popular al Arte’ ASAB, Bogota, Colombia
In-between - 2021 - El Museo Gallery -Bogota Solo exhibition
Constante pero esforzado ejercicio de repeticion Acrylic and oil on canvas 39 x 196 in / 100 x 500 cms. Estudio para pata de perro, Carved wood and acrylic 19 x 13 x 26 in / 50 x 34 x 68 cms
Inbetween, 2021 Acrylic on linen 38 × 29 in / 98 x 74 cms .
One after another, Oil on linen 37 × 25 in / 94 × 63.5 cms.. You want accuracy but not representation. Gouache and masking tape on paper. 14 x 11 in / 36.5 x 29.5 cms.
Painting and Invention - 2018 - Peana Projects - Monterrey Solo exhibition
Ever since technology began to transform the world it has had a catalytic effect on our day-to-day. Its effects determine different aspects of our lives, from the way we work, travel, and communicate, to the way we perceive the world, others, but more importantly, ourselves. Technology also allows new scopes for art and, at the same time, generates reflections on its use in the creative process. It opens questions about concepts such as authorship, creativity, value, original and copy. It is from this thought that the current project of the Colombian artist Saúl Sánchez (1977) comes into being. For this exhibition, named Painting and Invention, the artist takes over the pages of a book about the history of machines, published in the 1960s. The text recalls how mankind, after realizing that hands could be more than limbs, developed tools and machines to facilitate production, such as the telegraph, the assembly line, and the electric motor. The peculiar thing about the selected folios is that they are intervened by a series of scribbles made by one or several anonymous readers who once had the book in their hands and decided to inherit new doodles to the next reader. Sánchez reproduces some of these pages and, through the overlay of oil and printmaking, accentuates the lines that invade them, and then singles them through painting and sculpture. Thus, the artist seeks to emphasize the pictorial qualities of the scribble - of the manual, instinctive, childish action - that invades an image that has been reproduced mechanically. This idea is emphasized by the title of the exhibition, which takes its name from a caption of an illustration that says: Morse, Painter and Inventor, that focuses on the relationship of the doodle and the book, and exemplifies the nexus between the creative gesture and the mechanical production. In addition, it speaks of the contrast enclosed by the free lines on printed paper and the nostalgia of the idea of progress evoked by the book. Hence, we understand the metaphor as a sign of protest, it is the human facing the machine, the spontaneous creativity against the directed consciousness, the experience of the unrepeatable versus the homologation. In this way, the exhibition is articulated through pieces that dialogue with each other, where the doodle is the center of the statement, symbol of creativity and human superiority. Furthermore, Saúl Sánchez confronts us with different products that are the result of the same creative capacity of the human being: the book, the machine, the scribble, the painting and sculpture. With this, he constructs different narrative levels of various interpretive dimensions, however, everything is visualized as a virtuous circle, where invariably we return to the starting point: the creative instinct.
A Mechanical Giant, 2018 Oil and silkscreen ink on linen, steel 63 x 81 x 1.5 in / 160 x 206 x 4 cms.
Electricity’s Conjurer, 2018 Oil and silkscreen ink on linen, steel 38 x 52 x 8.7 in / 90.5 x 123 x 22 cms.
Avenues to Abundance, 2018 Oil and silkscreen ink on linen, steel 38 x 75 in / 96.5 x 190.5 cms.
Morse, Painter and Inventor, 2018 Oil and silkscreen ink on linen, steel 51.7 x 34.2 in / 131.5 x 87 cms.
A Chronicle of Human Ingenuity, 2018 Lacquered MDF wood 61.5 x 16.2 x 1 in / 156.5 x 41.5 x 2.5 cms.
I Can Because You Do - 2018 - Participant Inc. - New York Group exhibition
EGBDF (Every Good Boy Does Fine), 2016 Sound Installation (Steel, Inkjet prints on paper) 70 x 70 x 19 in / 177 x 177 x 50 cms..
Untitled - 2016 Acrylic and oil on linen and metal bars 70 × 70 × 25 in / 77.8 × 177.8 × 63.5 cms.
One after another - 2016 - Praxis International - New York Solo exhibition
For One After Another Sánchez restricts his material of analysis to linen canvases and his elements of composition to the straight line - opting for horizontal and vertical positions only. Reflecting on the influence that Concrete art’s appearance and concepts had on later manifestations of abstract art, including Op-art and Hard-Edge painting, Saul Sánchez utilizes the square, repeatedly, as a reference to the historical traditions he is addressing. Each canvas contains a quadratic shape, which is repetitively spray-painted with blue. Sánchez’s takes advantage of trompe-l’oeil to speak about painting in relation to time and distance: two different approaches in terms of process. Through this technique, Sánchez constructs a deceptive perimeter with traces of tape and spray-paint; in which case, the square’s edge is built discontinuous, physically and temporally, with parts entering and exiting. The positive square is inexistent. The idea of the square, from a purely lexical perspective, winds up being basically ambiguous; the illusory edge of the square is irregular, not the square in itself. In every painting it is imperative to recognize that even if the painted form is nebulous, in the end, the form is intuitively clear. Saul communicates the idea of the painted object – the canvas- and that of the painted subject -the surface
One after another, 2016 Oil and spray paint on linen 37 × 25 in / 94 × 63.5 cms. e/o.
One after another, 2016 Oil and spray paint on linen 37 × 25 in / 94 × 63.5 cms.
One after another in succession - 2015 - Nueveochenta Arte Contemporaneo - Bogotá Solo exhibition
One after another, 2016 Oil on linen 40 x 3,5 In / 100 x 7 x 7 cms. e/o.
One after another, 2016 Oil and spray paint on linen 40 x 40 in / 101.6 × 101.6 cms.
One after another, 2016 Oil and spray paint on linen 70 x 140 in / 177 × 355 cms.
No se Dice Nunca lo Mismo - 2013 - Nueveochenta Arte Contemporaneo Solo exhibition
- Bogotá
No se dice nunca lo mismo is a project that questions the presence of patterns in systems and structures (primarily associated with learning) that limit or enhance the opportunities for human action. This project shows how systems and patterns can fail without disappearing or even being transformed. Thus the break with what is expected as a response to a determined system can only occur within the confines of its own possibilities.
Estudio para cabeza de perro, 2013 Pencil on canvas and acrylic on mdf. 5 pieces of 53 x 46 in / 143 x 119 x 5,3 cms.
No se dice nunca lo mismo, 2013 Carved wood. Variable dimensions.
Sin Titulo, 2013 Pencil and watercolor on paper 8 x 11 in / 21 x 29,7 cms.
Sin Titulo, 2013 Pencil and watercolor on paper 8 x 11 in / 21 x 29,7 cms.
Sin Titulo, 2013 Pencil and watercolor on paper 8 x 11 in / 21 x 29,7 cms.
Exhibition View
Leccion 54 - 2012 - Nueveochenta Arte Contemporaneo Solo exhibition
- Bogotá
Transcription of the Lesson 54 from the book: Taquigrafia Gregg edicion diamante. Some conjugations of the verb “to copy”.
Leccion 54, 2012 Acrylic on MDF, and book 96 x 157 in /500 x 400 cms.
Schöner Hund - 2012 - ARTBO - Bogotá
Schoner Hund, Platz, 2012 Acrylic on canvas 67 x 75 in / 170 x 190 cms.
Schoner Hund, Platz, 2012 Acrylic on canvas 78 x 67 in / 200 x 170 cms.
Pato o Conejo - 2011 - Nueveochenta Arte Contemporaneo Solo exhibition
- Bogotá
Pato o Conejo entwines different lines of investigation: painting, perception, exhibitionism and visual illusions. Painting: Usually, painting is magnified in relation to other artistic disciplines such as video or installation, painting bears a mysterious and captivating poetic quality which quickly absorbs the senses. Thinking about this kind of technical favoritism, the project presents a dichotomy between painting and video projection in a series of hidden paintings and video projections of these paintings over an empty canvas. In this way, it emphasizes the value of the image over the material production of a painting. Perception: The subject of perception is a complex one. However, the project doesn't try to elaborate a discourse around perception main issues, but instead, it is interested in the way we experience images and their medium, ultimately it inquires how we trust in images although we know that they often behave like absent figures in our live. Exhibitionism: Using the hidden paintings as a formal excuse that depict exhibitionist animal behaviors, Pato o Conejo questions the ambiguous significance of exhibition and exhibitionism, that in the sphere of an art gallery it allows its to set out a position on seen and been seen. Visual Trap: All that glitters is not gold, and things aren't always as they seem, are phrases of popular culture that allow us to suspect that we cannot always trust in what we see, or in the way things present themselves. A box held by a slim and elegant golden branch turn into a perfect example of the deceptive shadows that inhabit of our everyday experience.
Constante pero esforzado ejercicio de repeticion - 2011. Acrylic and oil on canvas 94 x 40 x 14 in / 240 x 100 x 37 cms.
Constante pero esforzado ejercicio de repeticion - 2011. Detail
Exhibition view
Esto es solo para un museo, 2011 Acrylic on canvas 198 x 181 in / 503 x 460 cms.
Pato o Conejo, 2011 video projection, mapping on MDF 23 x 51 in / 65 x 130 cms.
Regla de Tres- 2009 - Nueveochenta Arte Contemporaneo Solo exhibition
- Bogotá
Regla de tres, is about a giant rolled painting that is laying on a table, waiting to be cutted according to the whims of those interested in buying a piece, just as if they where at a fabric shop. The gallery where the project is presented remains empty, and once the whole painting is fragmented and sold, just the table and the cardboard tube that hanged it remain in the space.
Exhibition view - Regla de tres, 2009 Cutting table, wood and formica 35 x 95 x 71 in / 90 x 243 x 181 cms.
Regla de tres, 2009 19 cuts of the one painting that measured 1,70 by 15 meters.
You Are Here - 2007 - Nueveochenta Arte Contemporaneo Solo exhibition
- Bogotá
You Are Here is a reflection on the place, about being "here " or "there", and the consequent impossibility of being simultaneously elsewhere. Since returning to the basics with which you learn to designate the site (the adverbs "here" "there,”inside "and " outside ") in-school records, but also books and language dictionaries when they are used to meet one of the many requirements for a shift in geographical location, "there is a necessity to make explicit the presence in one place, with emphasis on basic dichotomies here, there and in-out; pointing out the different social phenomena, political and cultural about being in one place.
Exhibition view, You are here, 2007 Wall text, sign made in fiberglass and polyester resin - Dimensions variable.
Exhibition view
In front of, 2007 Acrylic on canvas, 44 x 65 in / 113 x 167 cms.
Behind, 2007 Acrylic on canvas, 44 x 43 in / 113 x 110 cms.
Outside, 2007 Acrylic on canvas, 44 x 65 in / 113 x 167 cms.
In the middle, 2007 Acrylic on canvas, 44 x 65 in / 113 x 167 cms.
On top of, 2007 Acrylic on canvas, 44 x 43 in / 113 x 110 cms.
Expansión y Contracción de un Espacio Vacio - 2006 - Alianza Francesa - Bogotá Solo exhibition
Expansion y contraccion de un espacio vacio, greatly amplifies the scale of the format, in other words, closer to the architecture of exhibition space. They used a device to distance the pieces of the wall, revealing its objectivity, and contrasting a number of other objects on the ground, which promote identification of the painting with the direct space of experience. The images come from new urban situations, in this case apparently marginal sites, whose significance is enhanced by the broad fields of color that surround these images.
El jardin Secreto, 2006 Acrylic on canvas, 44 x 58 x 7 in / 114 x 147 x 20 cms.
El jardin Secreto, Detail
Expansion y contraccion de un espacio vacio, 2006 Acrylic on canvas, 196 x 67 x 7 in / 500 x 170 x 20 cms.
Expansion y contraccion de un espacio vacio, 2006 Acrylic on canvas and wood 67 x 98 x 7 in /170 x 250 x 20 cms.
Expansion y contraccion de un espacio vacio, 2006 Acrylic on canvas and wood 67 x 98 x 7 in /170 x 250 x 20 cms.
Detail
Embotellamientos - 2005 - Banco de la Republica Museum - Bogotá Solo exhibition
On a set of several bottle caps a series of miniature paintings have been produced that show different shots of city landscapes. Each cover is arranged independently over a wide area, contextualizing the exhibition space with all its architectural details, which amplifies or expands the scale of the painting project.
Embouteillage, 2005 Acrylic on bottle cap 3 cms diameter
Embouteillage, 2005 Acrylic on bottle cap 3 cms diameter
Embouteillage, 2005 Installation view.